Music became Tankiso Mamabolo’s way to express herself and connect with others long before she began sharing her stories on stage.

Raised in a family of singers who often made up songs at family gatherings, the musician and theatre-maker grew up understanding how music could bring people together. That same spirit of connection drove her performance at Theatre on the Square.

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Accompanied by keyboardist Katleho T Mollo, Mamabolo performed songs from her two albums, Freedom Hurts Sometimes, released in 2018, and Thapo, released in 2023. The concert offered audiences a more intimate interpretation of her music, with acoustic arrangements placing greater emphasis on her voice, lyrics and storytelling.

Mamabolo said she selected her favourite songs for the performance, particularly those written about people she loves and experiences that had fundamentally changed her as a person. Her music draws on the realities of life, including loneliness, grief, love and the challenges of adulthood.

These experiences have shaped her songwriting and helped her find a way to express feelings that can sometimes be difficult to put into words.

Her album, Freedom Hurts Sometimes, was inspired partly by the growing divide in communities and the loneliness she and others were experiencing, while her second album, Thapo, explored grief and loss while balancing everyday obligations. “Thapo was written about my experiences with grief and losing loved ones while having to show up for work and continue to live,” she said.

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For Mamabolo, bringing these songs to a smaller, more intimate setting allowed the message behind the music to take centre stage.

“The more acoustic sound will differ from my usual full band sound by stripping all that away and focusing on the message of the music. I think this will make an easier connection between myself and the audience.”

The performance also introduced a new musical partnership with Mollo, whose keyboard playing brought a fresh perspective to her sound. “Working with new people always challenges me to consider a wider range of audiences, and his impressive style of play will no doubt elevate my sound,” she said.

Mamabolo’s music moves between English, isiXhosa and Sesotho, reflecting her multilingual background and the different ways she experiences and expresses emotions. She hopes her music encourages listeners to feel understood, particularly when dealing with difficult emotions such as shame and hopelessness.

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“I hope people will leave feeling seen and represented. Art is a gathering and it doesn’t have to require too much from us.”

With a background in theatre-making, Mamabolo sees an intimate performance as an opportunity to create a conversation with her audience, rather than simply sing to them.

“Performing more intimate shows makes me feel like I’m talking to the audience and like we are in conversation with each other,” she said.

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